Jan 11, 2017 5 min read

Sammie Weiss has made an instant impact for the Bethany women’s basketball team.

A sophomore forward and McGuffey High School graduate, Weiss was playing in her fourth game for Bethany on Wednesday night after becoming a mid-year transfer from California University. She played a key role in knocking Washington & Jefferson out of first place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

Weiss scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half and made two clutch three-pointers in the final two minutes as Bethany rallied for a 79-73 victory over the Presidents at Henry Memorial Center.

The loss dropped W&J (6-1, 9-5) to second place in the PAC, a game behind undefeated Thomas More. Bethany improved to 5-2, 7-7.

It was a game of momentum swings as Bethany led 21-15 after one quarter but was held to only seven second-quarter points and trailed 37-28 at halftime. W&J maintained a 53-49 lead after three quarters before Bethany put up 30 points over the final 10 minutes.

The Presidents led 69-64 with less than four minutes remaining. Weiss gave Bethany the lead for good at 73-71 with 2:21 left by making one of her four three-pointers. Another three-pointer by Weiss 70 seconds later pushed the Bison’s lead to 76-71 and Bethany protected the lead by holding W&J to only a pair of free throws down the stretch.

Weiss, a three-time Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year, made eight of 14 shots and was 4-for-6 from three-point range. Hayley Holenka scored all of her 20 points in the second half for Bethany and Kelsea Daugherty had 15 points.

Danni Medovich, Amirah Moore and Taylor Cortazzo each scored 16 points for W&J and Mya Gordon had 12. The Presidents played without leading scorer and rebounder Danielle Parker.

California 78, Pitt-Johnstown 57: Shatara Parsons led four California players in double figures with 22 points as the Vulcans cruised to a 78-57 victory at Pitt-Johnstown in a PSAC West Division game.

The Vulcans (9-1, 15-1), who are ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, took control of the game in the second quarter when they used an 18-2 run to open a 37-17 lead with less than one minute remaining in the first half.

Parsons had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Point guard Miki Glenn had a strong all-around game with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. Abbey Sporio had a season-high 14 points and Precious Martin had 12 points.

The Vulcans played without forward Seairra Barrett.

Jamie Tabon scored 20 points to lead Pitt-Johnstown (2-8, 6-10), which lost its eighth in a row.

Thomas More 84, Waynesburg 52: Defending national champion Thomas More, ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division III, received a game-high 18 points from Nikki Kiernan and shot 54 percent from the field en route to an 84-52 victory over visiting Waynesburg in a PAC game.

Thomas More (7-0, 14-0) led 20-12 after one quarter and 43-27 at halftime. The Saints then pushed the lead to as many as 34 points midway through the third quarter.

Abby Owings scored 16 points, Emily Schultz had 12 and Madison Temple 11 for the Saints.

Haley Delaney, with 13 points, and Katie Gehlmann, with 10, were the only players to score in double figures for Waynesburg (4-3, 8-6).

Men’s results

Thomas More 69, Waynesburg 68: Waynesburg erased a 15-point deficit but host Thomas More pulled out a 69-68 victory over the Yellow Jackets in a PAC game.

Thomas More (6-1, 10-4) remained tied for first place in the conference and the Saints managed to stay there because of a big advantage at the free-throw line against Waynesburg (2-5, 4-10), which has lost five in a row. Thomas More had six fewer field goals than Waynesburg but the Saints made 20 of 27 free throws compared the Yellow Jackets’ 1-for-2.

Thomas More led by 15 points in the first half but Waynesburg managed to battle back and took a 64-63 lead with four minutes to play. Damion King, who scored 15 points, regained the lead for Thomas More with a jump shot and the Saint held on down the stretch, though a last-second three-pointer by Waynesburg’s Timmy Kaiser that would have won the game was missed.

Simon Cliffgord led Thomas More with 17 points.

Jon Knab scored a game-high 21 points for Waynesburg. Kaiser had 12 points and five assists, and Marcus Wallace and Nate Gearhart each scored 10 points.

Bethany 86, Wash & Jeff 72: Bethany put six players in double figures and held off winless Washington & Jefferson 86-72 in a PAC game at Henry Memorial Center.

Javonte Trujillo led Bethany (4-3, 9-5) with 17 points. The Bison led by only 37-36 at halftime.

Brian Lindquist had a big night for W&J (0-7, 0-14) with a game-high 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Brian Graytok had 16 points and Jonathan Devito 10.

Pitt-Johnstown 101, California 70: California was unable to make it two PSAC wins in a row as the Vulcans lost at Pitt-Johnstown 101-70 in a matchup of West Division teams.

Dale Clancy and Isaac Vescovi led UPJ (5-5, 10-6) with 26 and 23 points, respectively. UPJ made 14 of 21 three-point shots and shot 58 percent from the field.

Cal (1-9, 4-12) received 18 points from Tony Richardson and Jay Tucker had 16. Luka Andjusic scored 13 points.